


Light a Candle, Cast a Shadow

by Rocket_Sith



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Force Healing Ex Machina, Gen, Quasi Dark Side Ahsoka, Vader gets a wakeup call but he's still a total twerp, Yet another Twilight of the Apprentice fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-09
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-07-14 00:22:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7144571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rocket_Sith/pseuds/Rocket_Sith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Runaway plot bunny from a prompt where Ahsoka keeps her promise, stays with Vader, and gets in on his plans to overthrow Palpatine...but does so at the price of turning darkish herself.  Vader's been using the Force to heal his body, but he only dares do so much while Palpatine's still around. Force Voodoo works in mysterious ways. </p>
<p>CH 4 IS UP:<br/><i>From what she could tell, Anakin was equally furious, but even less in control of his rage. She wasn't sure what the extent of his grudge against Maul was, whether the two of them had developed some sort of ongoing rivalry or whether Anakin simply wanted to avenge his TIE fighter's honor, but she had the sneaking suspicion Anakin's brilliant strategy in his current mental state would pretty much boil town to "let's play chicken until somebody blows up."</i></p>
<p>(Note: This story takes place immediately after Twilight of the Apprentice and will eventually contain a fully consensual pairing between two adults who missed each other very much. Sure, they might be plotting out multiple murders while they shag, but that's just Dark Side pillow talk.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Quake

**Author's Note:**

> Well hey there, I'll take "pairings I never thought I'd see myself writing" for 500, Alex! But what the hell, I could _not_ resist the fluffy little dark side plot bunny this prompt spawned, so I just had to chase it down. And NGL, I'm having fun with this one. All feedback, including concrit, is welcome and appreciated. Thanks for reading!  
>  \----------------------------------------------------

The ship had been easy to find. Using her Force sense to scan the area for electronics instead of living beings was a simple enough matter, and the assembly date in the cockpit of the somewhat-but-not-too-badly wrecked vessel indicated it was only a few years old. 

Getting the damned thing to fly, however, would be another matter entirely. Some of the alien technology was completely unknown to her, and as handy as she normally was with electronics (due in no small part to her former Master's influence), she'd need someone with his mechanical expertise in order to figure it out. 

Theoretically, all she had to do was track her former Master down and get him to help. This would have been a fairly simple matter if her former Master hadn't been a Sith Lord hellbent on killing her, and if he wasn't currently lost somewhere in the depths of a Sith temple, and if the Sith temple in question weren't in the process of falling apart and caving in on itself. 

At least she could say her life wasn't boring. 

The gate to the quaking temple stood ahead of her, bits of the archway crumbling as it shook. Seating herself on the ground a safe distance away, she reached into the temple with her senses, its dark presence assaulting her shields. She was strong enough to withstand the initial onslaught, but keeping this up long enough to locate Vader would drain her to the point of collapse. She could tell he was still nearby and still alive, but that was all she could tell, and the temple was far too big for her to simply go in and look for him. Physically entering the temple rather than entering it with her mind would normally be safer, as it would allow her to keep her energy close and keep her shields fully formed, but not when the temple was busy self destructing. 

That really only left one option. 

Focusing inward, she searched her own aura for a familiar but long forgotten spark. When nothing appeared, she tried shifting her thoughts to Anakin, not as he was now, but as he'd been when they'd first met. She pictured his lopsided grin when she made him laugh, the way he'd roll his eyes whenever the topic of the Council came up, the joy she'd felt when they'd completed their first mission together and he'd formally accepted her as his Padawan. Finally something glittered and sparked in her mind's eye, and a gossamer string of Force energy appeared at her chest. Long since atrophied but never actually broken, her training bond with Anakin remained. 

She experimentally tugged on it, then braced herself for backlash. None came. She tried again, a bit harder this time. Still no reaction. She supposed this was probably a good thing, since she didn't necessarily want to give a Sith Lord who'd just tried to kill her direct access to her mind and Force presence, even if she was planning to rescue said Sith Lord. What she could do, however, was allow the bond to lead her to the person on the other end of it without having to open herself up to the temple at large.

Again, this wasn't exactly an appealing option, but it was the best one she had if she was going to keep her promise.

The temple quaked as she entered it, seeming to protest her trespass. "Oh, shut up," she muttered at the ground beneath her, narrowing her eyes at the crimson runes on the trembling walls. "Nobody asked you. Just give me my friend back and I'll leave you alone."

She followed the wispy golden strand, allowing it to guide her toward her former Master. The intermittent shaking of the ground beneath her feet did nothing to ease her nerves, but she supposed it was at least a small blessing from the Force that the quakes had seemingly sprung the temple's numerous traps, disabling them for her arrival. 

Even so, the sheer magnitude of the Darkness in the temple choked Ahsoka's senses. The air felt like corrosive acid slowly dissolving her shields, and some of the corridors she passed through contained what she could only describe as solidified chunks of Darkness that physically tried to assault her mind. 

"Ugh, go away!" she grunted, reaching for two of them with the Force and slamming them into each other, watching as they exploded into a shower of deep purple sparks. 

The ground shook again and the wind howled through the temple, whispering against her montrals for her to surrender to the dark, to accept the hopelessness of her foolish mission. "Your Master is dead, child," it teased. "You could have saved him long ago, but you abandoned him instead. You were selfish and weak, and he paid the price." 

"Go to hell!" Ahsoka bit out through gritted teeth. 

The wind swirled its approval, wrapping itself around her body. "Yes, child, let your anger guide you," it purred, brushing against her cheek.

Ahsoka squared her shoulders and stomped her foot, flaring her shields to shove the wind away. "Is the Dark Side also deaf?" she demanded, defiantly jutting out her chin. "I said shut up and go to hell!" She blazed her shields again to emphasize the point, grasping hold of the fear and anger pooling inside her and releasing it to the Force. It manifested in another shower of purple sparks, popping and streaking in the air as they trailed downward in a cloud of smoke. 

She was a vessel of Light, she told herself, incorruptible glowing energy poured into her by the Daughter on Mortis. Poured into her through Anakin, who had since become a vessel of Dark, just like the temple around them, its twisted energy trying relentlessly to puncture Ahsoka's shields and drink her spirit. 

The temple hissed in her ear that she was an abomination, that the very nature of her existence was an affront. Writhing tendrils of Darkness poked at her mental barriers, seeking to destroy her core and shred her energy, scattering it to the whispering winds. _If she'd only spill one measly drop, there would be room for the darkness to flood in._

She gasped as she felt her Force signature swirl in a state of flux, not as immune to the temple's dark powers as she wished she were, but still positive she could withstand it. 

But what if. _What if._

The light of the thread in front of her pulsed brightly, and when she looked down, Vader…. _no, Anakin_ lay sprawled on his back before her, a dent in the top of his helmet, likely caused by the large piece of stone debris on the ground next to him. She stepped over to him and crouched down, desperation and love washing over her at the sight of his partially exposed face. Through the freshly sliced hole in his mask, she placed two of her fingers against his cheek. With his piercing yellow eye shut tight, she could pretend for a moment nothing had changed. 

At first, she simply reached out with her Force sense, gently scanning and probing his body. _What the hell?_ All four of his limbs appeared to be cybernetic now. His suit of armor appeared to be some sort of advanced life support system, but for what, she wasn't sure. His internal organs felt fine. She could sense they'd been previously damaged and healed, but their Force signatures showed full functionality. There was a fresh but mild concussion that likely accounted for his current unconsciousness, but no internal bleeding or serious injury that she could sense, so she moved her scan to his skin. 

Here, she found much the same thing - plenty of healed injuries, but no lasting or untreated ones. She sensed thick scar tissue on his back and upper chest, thinner toward his stomach and neck, and thinner still toward his face, barely visible at all on the skin that showed through his helmet. The old scar over his eye was still there, but unlike the rest of his organic body, there was no echo of Force healing, as if whoever had performed the healing had deliberately dodged it to leave it in place. _Interesting._

Allowing herself a quick moment of sentimental indulgence, she traced her finger over the familiar scar and felt the thin fuzz of his eyebrow under her skin. Once again intrigued, she reached her senses toward him, scanning his face and scalp. The hair follicles showed the same signs of Force healing as his internal organs did. 

"Alright, Skyguy," she muttered to herself. "I don't know what happened to you, but you seem okay physically. Now for the hard part."

She took several deep, shaky breaths, releasing her nervousness to the cosmos and carefully focused herself. She was Light. She was Hope. She was filled to the brim with the purest Force energy, the Daughter's gifts of love and healing. Keeping her hand on Anakin's face, she reached her mind toward the thin wisp of energy that used to be their bond and imagined pouring light into it. The thread glowed gold and hummed to life, but none of her energy would enter, and it didn't take her long to realized it was because there was simply no place for it to go. Anakin was as filled to the brim with Darkness as she was with Light, and unless he willingly released some of it - _not kriffing likely for a Sith Lord, and pretty impossible while he's passed out anyway_ \- there was no room for any energy she tried to give him.

She briefly entertained the thought of trying to force her way into his mind to release his Darkness herself, but there were too many unknown variables at play - how his unconscious body would react to having a Light Side user suddenly invade it, how her mind would react to being inside such a powerful Dark Side user's, how the Sith Temple and its swirling maelstrom of ick would react to having additional darkness of that magnitude released into it. No. That wasn't the answer. And even if she did manage to release some of his Darkness, she had a sinking feeling it would only regenerate itself.

That left her only one option, and the reality of it filled her with cold dread. But she'd given him her word she wouldn't leave him again, and this was the only way. 

With a deep breath she braced herself and focused on their bond, the tiny gossamer string buzzing with light at her mental touch. She reinforced it, thickened it, then carefully, _so carefully_ divided it lengthwise down the middle. Now two impossibly tiny strands, side by side, connected their Force signatures. 

Through one of them, she willed the Light of her soul into the murkiness of his battered spirit. Through the other, she willed his Darkness into hers.


	2. Balance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the kudos and comments, you guys! This story is TOTALLY out of my usual range and comfort zone, but that's half the fun of it. I changed the summary a little because I think it was scaring some people off (haha, oops?) but I didn't change it too much, because I didn't want to misrepresent the story. In any case, here we go onward, business as usual! Thanks again for reading, and as always, feedback and concrit are totally welcome and appreciated.  
> \--------------------------------

For a moment, she felt nothing. She wasn't even sure it was working. She'd braced herself for an onslaught of rage, terror, hatred, even physical pain, yet felt none of the above. Her senses felt heightened, and her pulse quickened, but still nothing felt dangerous or even unpleasant. 

Anakin stirred slightly under her touch, and her heart surged with love, passion, and desperation - to save him and to get them both out of here no matter what the cost. At this point, she didn't give a shit what he'd done, or to whom. That wasn't her problem. He was here now, alive and with her, and if she had a chance to keep it that way, she was going to. 

The rest of the galaxy likely wouldn't agree with her perspective, but that wasn't her problem either. The galaxy could go to hell as far as she was concerned. Matter of fact, she'd like to send it there herself for everything it had put her through. She was tired of always trying to do the right thing and fight uphill battles for some nebulous _greater good_ while her friends and loved ones died around her, and damn it to the Sith Hells of Moraband, Anakin was _hers_. She wasn't going to lose him to this horrible place after she'd only just found him again, and if she had to kick his ass and drag him out of there screaming, she would. But he'd be leaving there with her no matter what happened or who tried to stop them.

Intense waves of dizziness washed over her, and when she looked down at the glowing strands that connected her spirit to his, she saw the flow of energy had stopped. Was he unconsciously blocking it? Frustration roiled in her gut, but suddenly she understood the bonds weren't blocked at all. There was simply no more flow because equilibrium had been reached, and their energies, Light and Dark, were now in equal balance. 

The gravity of what she'd done slammed into her, and icy fear shot through her veins. It wasn't supposed to happen this fast! Was she going to die? Was she going to lose her mind and go mad? 

She did a quick scan of herself, checking for anything foreign or amiss. The truth of the matter was, she felt fine. Somewhat different, but not Dark-with-a-capital-D or out of control or detached from her senses. She didn't feel damaged or in pain, or anything else she'd been taught to associate with the Dark Side. The Darkness in her freely acknowledged itself, bubbling with a powerful intensity that reminded her more of Anakin the Jedi than Vader the Sith, but it wasn't actually _doing_ anything. It was just - there, part of her now. 

The fear gave way to curiosity. Is this what it felt like to be half Dark, half Light? Nothing felt inexplicably sinister, or unnaturally imposed. There wasn't some hokey demon growling in her soul, no Dark Side Boogey Man whispering for her to slaughter innocents and conquer planets. Granted, she certainly didn't envy any unsuspecting life forms who might happen to get in her way right about now, but she lacked any compulsion to go out and _start_ problems. And okay, she was more than a little bit miffed with the universe in general, but the universe had done more than a little bit to deserve it, so it's not like it was completely unwarranted or anything. But she still didn't feel like going on a murderous rampage while Anakin was right there and needed help. 

Maybe the Darkness just hadn't taken root yet. Her emotions were undeniably intensified, and she felt more compelled to act on them than to keep them at bay, but the emotions were still _hers_. She reached out to the Force, invited it to speak to her, but it offered only its usual benign hum. There was no biting reproach in its energy, no icy condemnation in its flow, and when she called on it again to show her a glimpse of her own presence, she saw herself simply standing in the middle of a gradient spectrum. She could walk toward the Darkness, which felt like a hurricane in quicksand - dangerous and unpredictable yet alluring in its power. She could turn toward the Light, which felt welcoming in its familiarity, yet sterile and stagnant, almost impotent by comparison. Or she could stand in the center, touching both but not fully embracing either. _You are a sentient being with free will_ , the Force told her, _and your choices are yours._

Light or Dark, the Force was right. She was different now, but she still felt like _her_. And as she reached out around her, she realized Anakin felt like Anakin, and she almost cried with relief at the discovery. 

_Is this what he was like all along_ , she wondered, brushing her Force signature against his. _Half and half, but he fought to embrace the Light until something pushed him so far over the edge and into the Darkness, he couldn't find his way back to center?_

She thought back to their days together as Master and Padawan, about watching him furiously Force choke a bartender in some sleazy cantina for withholding information... and then a split second later, lovingly place a hand on her shoulder, call her by her nickname, and softly say "let's go." She remembered the primal rage he'd fly into whenever anyone he loved was in danger, or whenever he'd been lied to or held back by the Council, but she also remembered the endless patience he showed her while she was learning new skills, and how he never thought twice about putting himself in the line of fire to lead his men in battle, trooping in front of them with his lightsaber aloft, deflecting blaster bolts away from Rex and the rest of the clones. 

_Of course_ , this is what he'd been all along. And now so was she. 

_Okay_ , she thought to herself. _This is fine. I can work with this._ She had the sneaking suspicion this whole "balance" thing was going to be a little more difficult than it initially appeared, but if she had Anakin at her side, there wasn't a whole lot she couldn't do. 

That was assuming they were both alive, however, and the continued collapse of the temple was making that seem less and less likely if they didn't get the hell out of here sooner rather than later. 

One small blessing was the Temple seemed to have relaxed its psychic assault against her shields, probably no longer seeing her as such a strong affront to its Darkness. That still didn't mean she was fool enough to drop her defenses and trust an ancient Sith deathtrap to not try and suck the remaining Light out of her. _No rest for the somewhat-wicked_ , she thought. 

Keeping her shields fortified to the max while maintaining her connection with Anakin was draining her energy fairly quickly, and she'd used up a great deal of it already. Simply levitating Anakin out of the temple with the Force was out of the question. She'd pass out before they made it, and even if Anakin or Vader or whatever mindset he was in when he awoke didn't kill her, the temple would.

Once again, she found herself with only one option, and it wasn't one that was particularly appealing - wake Anakin up and hope for the best. The Lightness she'd poured into him gave her some hope, but at the same time, he was just as much of a sentient being with his own choices to make as she was. If letting Darkness into her soul hadn't immediately turned her evil, there was no reason to think Darth kriffing Vader would suddenly become Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker again just because some stubborn nerf from his past had shown up and worked some zero-hour Force voodoo on him. 

If her own experience meant anything, then balancing his spirit and balancing his mind were two entirely different concepts. She'd given his mind room to find its way back if it wanted, but he'd have to make that choice himself. And even if that ultimately was the choice he made, it likely wouldn't be instantaneous. 

The ground began to quake again, and a giant chunk of rock hurled itself toward them from above. Ahsoka grabbed it with the Force and shoved it away, but there were plenty more where it came from, and the time for dallying around in this miserable hell pit was over.

She grounded the tattered shreds of her energy and focused again on their bond, reaching for Anakin's mind. Her healing skills had never been much, but she did what she could to ease the damage from his concussion, then pushed a Force suggestion toward him. _You want to wake up_ , she told him through their link. _You do not want to attack me. I'm here to help you, and you want to help me get us both out of here._

Anakin began to stir, and she felt a pulse of confusion flare through their bond. _Well, better confusion than anger,_ she thought to herself. Anakin...Vader...whoever was inside the hulking suit slowly sat up, reaching a black gloved hand toward the hole in his mask. His exposed yellow eye locked onto her, and to her relief, the sickening intensity of the color seemed to have diminished a bit. "You," he muttered through the half-broken vocoder. "You will regret interfering with my mission." It was undeniably a threat, but the human undertones in his voice sounded more exhausted than threatening, and he made no move to attack her.

 _Well that's good,_ she thought sarcastically. _Sith Lite. All the posturing, half the calories._

The yellow eye narrowed. "You would be foolish to mock me, Jedi. I can hear your thoughts."

"And I can hear you wheezing like an old grandpa," she shot back. "You need me right now. I've got a ship and an escape plan. You've got a concussion and a broken helmet. So cut the bantha shit and let's move." 

Wordlessly, Vader rose to his feet. They eyed each other warily for what seemed like an eternity, but neither made a move to strike. The stone path beneath them violently trembled, and the ground where they stood began to break apart. 

"Anakin, jump, now!" Ahsoka shouted, instinct taking over. She leapt with all her might toward a ledge several feet above them, and as she soared through the air, she reached for Anakin's body with the Force, yanking him off the ground alongside her.


	3. Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you guys SO MUCH for the comments and kudos! And now, it's time for some shit to hit some fans. Onward!  
> \------------------------------------------

_"Anakin, jump, now!" Ahsoka shouted, instinct taking over. She leapt with all her might toward a ledge several feet above them, and as she soared through the air, she reached for Anakin's body with the Force, yanking him off the ground alongside her._

Ahsoka hit the ground hard, her shoulder taking the brunt of the impact. Vader's heavy form crumpled beside her. She quickly scanned herself to check for injuries, and finding nothing severe, she pulled herself to a sitting position. Vader slowly rose to his feet and stood at her side, towering over her. 

Ahsoka wasn't sure what his intentions were or whether her Force suggestion was having any impact, but he still didn't seem particularly interested in killing her, and she was going to count that as a win. As she pulled herself to her feet, his vocoder crackled to life. "I have told you already. Anakin Skywalker is dead. He was weak, but I am not, and I do not require the assistance of a failed Padawan to perform a simple Force jump."

Part of her wanted to shove him back off the ledge and tell him to prove it, but she'd already gone through too much trouble rescuing him to kill him herself. She also fully realized she was being needled, and while his words stung, a small part of her still warmed, missing the easy bantering and teasing that used to pass between them. The part of her that wanted to push him off the ledge, however, told the warm part to shut the hell up because getting nostalgic and sentimental over a Sith Lord right now was a good way to get killed. 

She settled for rolling her eyes at him. "Okay, fine, got it. If the ground tries to buck us off again, you're on your own." Vader folded his arms across his chest, and it was painfully reminiscent of the way Anakin used to sulk in the Jedi command center when he got orders he didn't like. Ahsoka tried to keep her lips from twitching into a smile as she continued. "We need to make two more jumps from here to get to the ship - that is, unless you feel like taking the long way, which means a ton more walking. You don't seem physically injured, but if your concussion is making you dizzy or messing with your Force control, walking might be a better plan."

"I am fully capable of two jumps," he said simply, an indignant edge to his voice that the vocoder failed to camouflage. "But I warn you now, if this is a trap set by your insolent rebel cohorts, then all of you will die as traitors to the Empire." 

"Yeah, you wish I'd give you an excuse!" she shot back. "My insolent rebel cohorts had enough common sense to get the hell out of here."

"You would have been wise to join them."

"Ugh, will you just…" Ahsoka was pretty sure she was still being needled. She was also equal parts relieved and aggravated that there was enough of Anakin left in Vader to know how to get such a rise out of her. "Does that stupid voicebox of yours come with a mute button?" she demanded, pointing at the control panel on the front of his suit. She could swear she felt a swell of pleased amusement echo through their bond in response to her annoyance, but she chose to ignore it. "Anyway," she continued, not giving him a chance to respond, "the ship is pretty much directly above us. It's some alien thing I found. It looks like it's in pretty good shape, but I can't figure out how everything works. You're going to have to take a look at it when we get there."

"So this is your motive for assisting me. You require my mechanical expertise in order to escape this planet."

Her temper flared again and she quickly realized she had no desire to bite it back. "Is being insufferably stupid a Dark Side power the Jedi never found out about, or is it just your own special talent? If I didn't want to help you, I would have left with my friends when I had the chance, not stayed here in this miserable pit with you!"

Vader stood silent for a moment and studied her with his exposed eye, the cold yellow flickering to a slightly warmer amber. "I believe insufferable stupidity was a power at which the Jedi excelled, not the Sith."

 _Was that a joke?_ Ahsoka wondered in astonishment. Either way, it was a fair observation, and she knew it. "Maybe a little," she conceded, resisting the urge to place a hand on his arm. Despite her annoyance with his insults and her painful awareness that she still had no clue what his ultimate intentions were, his blessedly familiar, irreverent humor ignited a spark of hope. 

Her joy, however, was short lived as more quakes shook the ground, and a deep crack began to form in the ledge where they stood. "Okay," she said, "let's just agree we're not going to kill each other until we're off this rock. Then we can re-negotiate. Deal?" 

Vader regarded her silently for a moment, then wordlessly crouched down and launched himself upward, leaping to the ledge above them. She wondered for a moment if he was making a break for it, planning to leave her there to die now that he knew there was a functional ship within reach. The howling winds of the temple picked up again, and she saw his thick black cape billowing from the ledge overhead. 

He wasn't running. He was waiting for her. That much was apparent. Whether he was waiting as a companion or waiting to knock her back down as soon as she leapt, she had no way of knowing. She tried to search their bond for his intent, but she was met only with thick, impenetrable shields. _Of course he blocked me out as soon as he was awake enough to do it_ , she thought. That didn't necessarily imply malice though, especially from someone who was likely used to keeping tight shields. 

_Well,_ , she thought, _there's only one way to find out_. Eyeing the tip of the ledge warily, she focused her energy and propelled herself upward, safely clearing the ground and landing in a crouch at Vader's feet. He said nothing, and when she indicated another ledge above them, about ten feet up and slightly to the left, he merely nodded and jumped. Again, she followed, and when she landed safely once again, she saw Vader strolling casually toward the odd alien ship several yards away.

She jogged to catch up with him, and he made no move to acknowledge her. "I checked it out when I found it," she said. "It doesn't look too damaged, and I don't think it's been here for more than a year or two. Do you think you can fly it?"

He continued to ignore her and strode into the ship. 

"Anakin, wait!" she called after him, darting through the open hatch before he had a chance to close it. 

"You will address me as Lord Vader," he demanded, turning to face her with his hands on his hips, "or I will show you the extent of my powers in a manner you will not soon forget." He raised his arms above him in a grandiose gesture, then lowered them forcefully, the hatch of the ship slamming at his command.

Ahsoka snorted and rolled her eyes. "Will you knock it off! It's kind of hard to believe your 'I destroyed Anakin Skywalker' song and dance when your obnoxious posturing sounds just like him."

"Our alliance is temporary and born only of necessity. It would be unwise of you to test my patience."

"If you were going to kill me and take the ship, you would have done it already, so either help me fly this thing, or shut up and get out of my way." 

He stared her down like an agitated nexu contemplating how to best attack its prey, and she met his gaze evenly, doing her best to look bored and unimpressed. Anakin's bravado had never frightened her, but the idea of staying on this planet any longer than necessary was another matter entirely. 

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Well?!" 

"Fine," he said curtly, and he walked over to the controls, seating himself in the pilot's chair. The ship suddenly lurched forward and Ahsoka tumbled to the floor, her previously injured shoulder slamming hard against the cockpit wall. 

"Oh, smooth move, Anakin!" she snapped, pulling herself to her feet and striding over to the copilot's chair. "I thought you were supposed to be good at flying."

"It appears I won't have to kill you if your clumsiness does the job for me," he replied, the half-broken vocoder adding an ominous tone to his voice that, in Ahsoka's opinion, sounded comedically dramatic. 

"Yeah, whatever," she muttered, reaching for the controls in front of her, trying to get a feel for the weapons system just in case any hostile vessels should pop up on the radar. "And could you please take that stupid helmet off? It's about as intimidating as a newborn tooka, and it's not like I don't already know what you look like." 

The part about how she just wanted to see his face again went unsaid. 

"Very well." He reached behind his neck and released some sort of clasp, then pulled the helmet over his head. Familiar blond curls tumbled out, coming to rest just above his shoulder. His skin was ghostly pale, lacking the bronzed tan he'd always had when she knew him, and it made the slash mark over his right eye stand out. A few patches of shiny scar tissue streaked down his neck, and one extended halfway up his left cheek. His eyes shimmered golden amber, unsettling compared to the clear sky blue she was used to seeing, but a marked improvement over the angry piercing yellow they'd been in the temple. He looked slightly older than she remembered, but not as old as he probably should have, considering the amount of time that had passed and the amount of turmoil she could only imagine he'd been through. 

He stared at her, intense and unmoving, and she met his gaze head on, sending a pulse of love through their bond. He didn't outwardly react to it, but his eyes flickered again, and he seemed to be studying her rather than merely staring. 

"Hi," she said simply, fighting to suppress the grin that was trying so hard to plaster itself across her face. 

In a very Anakin-like way, he cocked his head to the side, then nodded briefly and turned back to the controls. 

Not exactly a scintillating conversation or heartwarming reunion, but at least he'd shelved the Sith Lord theatrics for the time being, and she'd take any progress she could get. 

Exploring the control panel and display monitors in front of her, she quickly realized the ship came equipped with a pretty respectable tactical system. There were detailed sensors, shields, various weapons, and if Anakin's piloting was any indication, the ship had pretty good maneuverability as well.

One of the systems beeped, and Ahsoka checked the multitude of screens for any suspicious looking readouts. Engine function normal, all systems online. Huh.

The ship whooped again, and Ahsoka glanced at the radar. _Uh-oh._

"Um, I think we got company," she said, studying the readouts on the screen, and her heart dropped into her stomach. 

A TIE fighter. A bloody kriffing Imperial TIE fighter. Why was she even surprised? 

She'd walked right into a trap. Of course she had. She was so stupid, so naive. The foul being in the pilot's chair wasn't her Anakin, no matter how hard she wished it. He was nothing but a cold, hardened Sith Lord wearing Anakin's face, and her desperation to be at her Master's side again had blinded her to the obvious. How could she have been so careless? 

Just as she was about to slam her head against the console in frustration and defeat, she heard a string of Huttese curses erupt from the seat next to her. Admittedly, she was a few decades out of practice with Huttese obscenities, but she was pretty sure Vader wasn't pleased to see the TIE fighter, and from what he was muttering, he suspected the pilot to be...well, a rather crude term for certain unsightly parts of a male Hutt's reproductive system. 

"Not one of your buddies?" Ahsoka asked, risking a glance at Vader. 

His eyes narrowed in cold fury, livid yellow blazing inside them. "Power up the weapons and follow my orders," he bit out, then glared pointedly at the screen displaying the TIE. " _E chu ta_ , you _poodoo_ -sucking red horned _peedunkey._ " *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Huttese micro-rant = "Fuck you, you shit-sucking red horned punk."


	4. Flightplan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, y'all, I did not intend for it to be a decade and a half between updates! Some busy traveling happened on my part (good thing), and some malfunctioning fuckery happened on my computer's part (bad thing). But now the dust has settled, and I can get back to writing - which could be a good or bad thing, depending on whether you like what I'm writing or think I totally suck canal water. In any case, sorry for the crazy-ass wait!  
> \--------------------------------

_Maul._

Fury rose in Ahsoka's chest as she realized who was flying the TIE. The Sith bastard had blinded Kanan. She'd heard long ago about his exploits murdering Qui-Gon, and she hadn't needed to be told about the aftermath when he'd brutally slaughtered Satine. 

_Kanan, rebel ally and mentor to Ezra. Qui-Gon, maverick Jedi who'd rescued Anakin from Tatooine despite the Council's trademark idiocy. Satine, dedicated pacifist whose life Maul had horrifically claimed as weapon against Obi-Wan._

As far as Ahsoka was concerned, she owed Maul a thorough asskicking on behalf of six different people. Even if she also owed him a debt of gratitude for stealing Anakin's ship and consequently giving her the opportunity to reunite with her former Master, six overdue asskickings minus one debt of gratitude still equaled five solid asskickings, and Ahsoka was resolutely intent on delivering. 

Honestly, she told herself, there was really no point in denying it. She was plain and simple _pissed off_ , and instead of releasing it to the Force or some equally useless bantha fodder, she had every intention of acting on her perfectly justified desire for payback. 

And from what she could tell, Anakin was equally furious, but even less in control of his rage. She wasn't sure what the extent of his grudge against Maul was, whether the two of them had developed some sort of ongoing rivalry or whether Anakin simply wanted to avenge his TIE fighter's honor, but she had the sneaking suspicion Anakin's brilliant strategy in his current mental state would pretty much boil town to "let's play chicken until somebody blows up."

Normally in this situation, she'd bet on Anakin without a second thought. But this situation was anything but normal. 

Ahsoka knew what TIE Fighters were capable of in terms of maneuverability and weapons. She also knew Anakin was in a state of mental and emotional flux right now that made even his most mercurial temperaments seem downright stable by comparison. She knew their newly acquired ship was completely unfamiliar to both of them, and that they hadn't had a chance to adequately test it for base functionality yet, let alone thoroughly study it in full. Anakin was a brilliant pilot, but there were simply too many variables in play for her to bet both their lives on him getting them out of this one unscathed. 

_Time to work some magic,_ she thought. 

It was also time for her to cross her fingers and hope Anakin would listen, since Anakin in and of himself was another crapshoot of unknown variables at the moment. Not that he wasn't always, but this was a whole new level. She had no solid sense of who Anakin even was right now, let alone whether an opportunity to increase their chances of obliterating Maul while escaping alive would outweigh his primal desire to wreak immediate, unfettered havoc. 

One thing Ahsoka was fairly sure of, however, was that no version of Anakin would want to let anyone get away with picking a fight, winning it, and stealing his ship as a trophy. 

So she'd just need to play on that and take it from there. It would be fancy footwork and risky business, but that, too, went hand in hand with any version of Anakin. As did a rather large ego and an equally large sense of possessiveness, both of which she knew exactly how to appeal to. 

Slowly, tiny bit by tiny bit, she began to ease open their bond. When no negative reaction was forthcoming, she pushed harder - not intrusively, but encouragingly and with an old familiar air of brazen determination. "Let's get this asshole," she said, prodding her mind against his. "You know what we're capable of. He doesn't know who he's up against. Let's make him find out the hard way." 

To Ahsoka's delight, Anakin jumped at the bait. "You have a plan?"

She nodded quickly and nudged his mind again. "There's a shuttle in the bay, and if the schematics are accurate, it's armed to the teeth and outfitted with some hardcore cloaking tech. Whatever planet this ship came from sure knew how to crash a party. Or an entire fleet of enemy ships." She tapped the screen and brought up the diagram of the shuttle. "I'm thinking I take this thing for a stroll. You stay in the main ship and keep giving Darth Poodoo the run around. He won't be able to keep up with your bag of aerial tricks, but he'll focus all his attention on trying. Meanwhile, I sneak up on his tail and blow him out of the sky before he even knows I'm there." 

She knew better than to try and sneak a Force suggestion on Anakin and expect him not to notice, but stroking his pilot's ego while offering him a chance to show off, beat an enemy, and re-claim her as his teammate all at once... well, it was the next best thing. And maybe she could help the process along even more. 

Releasing her apprehension to the Force, she brushed her mind further against his, prodding in a way he'd hopefully interpret as enthusiastic excitement. _Not that I'm really even lying about it_ , she thought to herself, feeling a genuinely giddy thrill at the idea of fully reestablishing their bond and actually being a duo again. 

The giddy thrill intensified when Anakin's Force signature responded. His shields remained heavily in place, but he accepted the connection, cautiously nudging her mind with his. Directly reading each other's thoughts had never been among their abilities, even when their bond had been at its strongest, but they'd easily been able to communicate feelings, sentiments, and eventually even quick flashes of images. She focused warmth and affection through their link and tried sending a mental image of the stolen TIE fighter exploding, Maul trapped inside. 

At first, there was no reaction, but then she felt the tiniest pulse of excitement. It was a mere echo of what she used to feel from him whenever he got to take to the skies in battle during the Clone Wars - _raising hell in the heavens_ , as she'd laughingly described his piloting style once upon a time - but it was familiar and unmistakable and _so, so welcome_. She sent back encouragement, approval, and an effortless flow of unbridled joy at the idea of fighting by his side again.

He turned and studied her intensely for a moment, shields still high, a million undefinable emotions flitting across his face. She held his gaze and smirked, projecting confidence and stubbornness and a fiery thirst for a good old fashioned battle. And finally, she felt exuberance flair in his Force signature. She felt him put up a half-assed attempt to shield it, and then she heard softly, in a voice he was trying far too hard to make sound detached and annoyed, "be careful." 

Elation overwhelmed her as she struggled with her own half-hearted attempt to shield her thoughts. She wanted nothing more than to fling herself into his arms then and there, and stay there for the foreseeable future. She almost did, but then the part of her mind that hadn't completely lost its senses told her to be careful showing too much open affection to someone who'd recently been trying to kill her. 

She bit back a frustrated groan, and with more self-restraint than she thought she had in her body, took a single step toward him. She wanted to hug him and collapse into him and never let him out of her sight again, but instead she clapped him lightly on the shoulder, and with a quick "you too," ran off down the corridor toward the shuttle bay. 

_Pesky sense of logic_ , she silently lamented, feet pounding on the metal floor of the ship as she regarded the unwelcome piece of herself that insisted on patience and temperance. It was annoying as hell, and she wanted to tell it to go away and take that stupid Zabrak son of a Hutt with it, but unfortunately, she knew it had a point. If she and Anakin managed to make a team effort out of blasting this idiot Sith Lord out of the sky, then they could take all the time they wanted to sort through whatever mental and emotional messes they needed to sort through, and as a bonus, they'd have a mutually won victory to celebrate and bond over. 

Ahsoka's Force signature rippled and flared at the thought, and she delighted in it. Then she felt utterly horrified. 

_Ahsoka Tano, what the hell have you done to yourself?_ She found herself asking as she reached the shuttle bay door. She was being manipulative and opportunistic, using ancient grudges as an excuse for going after Maul, rationalizing all of it to egg Anakin into some foolhardy space chase, knowing full well the fight would appeal to all his most reckless traits while being equally useful in advancing her own selfish goal of weaseling her way back into his heart. 

_But what's the harm?_ another voice within her answered back. _And more importantly, what's the alternative? Anakin was going to go after Maul either way. Now there's just a better chance Anakin will come out of it alive, Maul will be gone for good, and Anakin will have you around to help him recover himself in the aftermath. You couldn't just screw up his Force balance in a Sith temple and then leave him to fend for himself, you know._

Of course she couldn't. Doing it this way was the best thing for everyone. 

And it _wasn't_ rationalization. It was the truth. Going after Maul like this was the only logical course of action. The greater good was being served.

So case closed.

"Buckle up, Darth Poodoo," she muttered, opening the shuttle bay doors and sprinting toward the smaller craft inside. She lifted the side hatch, yanked it open, vaulted one-armed into the pilot seat, and flipped the engine switch. "You're about to be in for one hell of a ride."


End file.
